Blind Eye Read Free Page A

a shot from our budget for decontamination every time that stinking elevator comes down here,” the project manager complained as the door closed behind Bonn.
    Everyone in the room had his and her own opinion on the topic and was not shy about contributing it now. Marion, however, made a point of staying out of it. These academics were a peculiar bunch, and she’d decided on day one that she wasn’t going to get involved in their little dramas and power plays.
    â€œI’m sorry to mention it,” Eaton said over the voices of the cackling flock. “Let’s keep on schedule.”
    As silence gradually settled over the control room, however, a strange popping sound could be heard from the outside.
    â€œWhat the hell was that?” the project leader asked.
    â€œI’ll check,” Dr Lee responded, getting up andpressing the automated button. As the door opened, the stunned team watched two men wearing black ski masks sweep into the control room.
    Lee went down as a bullet was fired at his head.
    Marion’s scream caught in her throat. Suddenly, everything seemed to move in slow motion. She saw the blue eyes of the assailant moving in her direction. The overhead light shone on the top of knit ski mask. She stared at the light gray maintenance coveralls and the name of the power company embroidered on the pocket.
    â€œHold on a second,” Eaton snapped, starting to stand. “What do you think you’re doing here? This is a secure research facility for—”
    He never finished. The other intruder opened fire, starting with the project manager and then shooting each person around the table in turn.
    Amid the popping of the weapons, the last thing Marion heard was the high-pitched shriek that she realized had finally burst from her own throat. As she tried to back away from the table, her metal chair tipped.
    She did not see or hear or feel anything more, however. All consciousness exploded in a molten sea of light as a pair of bullets struck her in the head, sending her flying off the chair. Spinning as she fell, Marion’s body hit the floor. And when she came to rest, a crimson pool quickly spread over the beige tiles around her head.

3
    York, Pennsylvania
    M ark Shaw killed the engine of his old Chevy pickup and sat for a moment, looking at the pink neon lettering on the sign above the Silver Diner. Even in the morning sunlight, he could see the ner in the name flickering. Those letters had been threatening to go out since he was in high school. Some things never changed.
    There was a time when the thought might have been comforting.
    Through the windows, he could see the faces of guys he’d grown up knowing. Lucille came into view with an armful of breakfast plates. As he watched, she slung the food onto the cracked Formica of one of the booths as she had been doing since the ark landed. Her husband Abel was visible through the little window in the kitchen behind the counter, looking at the chrome carousel of paper order slips. Mounted on the wall at the end of the counter, the TV was tuned in to CNN.
    With a sigh, Mark hauled himself out of the truck. The smell of bacon and onions greeted him before he even went up the three concrete steps to the diner door. He knew Lucille would have a cup of coffee on the counter for him before he sat down.
    Inside, a few of the regulars were missing, but there was no one he didn’t know. He was surprised to see old Mrs. Swartley sitting at a booth down at the end with two other retired teachers he remembered from junior high. He didn’t realize she was still living in York. The three women were wearing matching gold bowling shirts. The short, permed white hair of the trio could have been part of their uniforms. A Thursday morning league, no doubt. She smiled at him but kept talking to her companions.
    Joe Moyer and Andy Alderfer were at the counter, and Mark took his place a seat down from them. Joe and Andy had graduated